


Home For The Holidays

by acerobbiereyes



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/M, Gen, Tumblr Prompt, most the characters who aren't daisy and robbie are just mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2020-08-10 19:22:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20140690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acerobbiereyes/pseuds/acerobbiereyes
Summary: Daisy's Christmas Obsession, and how Robbie falls in love with her along the way.(Inspired by Nerds-Are-Cool's AU post, 'It's nowhere near Christmas, what are you doing.')





	1. Chapter 1

October 31st, 11:58 PM

Robbie was in his bed, sleeping the peaceful slumber of someone who didn't deserve what was going to happen to him in the next minute and a half if you asked him.

Halloween wasn't even cold in its grave yet before "Holiday Season" erupted from somewhere inside of his room at a truly unholy volume. Robbie scrambled out his blankets, heart racing as his still asleep brain tried and failed to assign coherent thoughts to what the hell was happening right now.

That is, of course, till he slammed into the wooden floor of his bedroom and squinted through the darkness to see the source of the hell noise, a radio. His radio, actually, with a sticky note attached that said the following -

"Merry Christmas :)"

"I'm pretty sure this is harassment." He mumbled.

oxo

Robbie first met Daisy like this;

He was picking Gabe up from the library, it was late and a lot of party goers were out and about. Whether it be drunkenly stumbling home or to the next party. Daisy was the latter in a large group of friends in varying degrees of sobriety. He had just shut the passenger door on Lucy and was rounding the bumper when they passed by.

Daisy paused and made a face. Robbie knew exactly what that face meant. They made brief eye contact over the hood, and he felt an odd calm settle over him as he watched some stranger puke all over the front tire of his car. She then proceeded to pat Lucy's hood until she was gently removed by the soberest person in the group. Elena, he would later learn.

He stared after them. While his brain grasped at straws on how to react, he turned his gaze to his brother who was also watching them leave. He just looked bewildered, but after a few heartbeats proceeded to laugh hard enough to bring tears to his eyes and were like that the pretty much the entire ride home. Traitor.

Daisy found him the next day, severely hungover, with an "I'm sorry for puking on your vintage car" apology coffee.

He accepted it and took a sip before replying, "You should be apologizing to Lucy, not me."

That surprised a laugh out of her before she groaned, putting a hand to her forehead. A strange way to meet his future roommate and best friend.

oxo

Robbie had to stop at Target on the way home from Canelo's to pick up a few things; the most important being milk because he had used most of it to finish off all the good cereal in the house as retaliation for Daisy using his radio for evil. Then he had replaced it with the most tasteless brand he could find cheap at the nearby gas station at 2 AM.

("Jokes on you, Robbie!" His roommate yelled through a mouthful of Bland Cereal as she kicked open the door to his room a few hours later, and he lifted his head off the pillow to stare at her through the haze his sugar coma, "I love - " a pause to swallow and remember the name of the cheap cereal he had bought, "Grape Nuts!")

It was maybe 8 or so at night. So he wasn't expecting to run into said roommate; her arms filled with enough colorful wrapping paper to cover Lucy twice with Jemma hot on her heels with a similar amount of tape. There was an awkward silence as Robbie caught them red-handed.

"You guys are ridiculous."

Daisy just raised an eyebrow at him but didn't deny anything.

oxo

Robbie had originally suspected that he wouldn't see Daisy after the Apology Coffee, mostly because he was rarely at the college, mainly there when his brother needed a ride or when Canelo needed a supervisor for the Autos class he taught and who better than his best mechanic? His words, not Robbie's, but hey, he'll take it.

Daisy seemed to pop up everywhere though, a bit like when you learn something new for the first time and then its seemingly in everything you read. So it was easy for her to slip into his life and she didn't even bring in anyone new with her, just tightened the bond of the group of people he, even Gabe, already knew.

For instance; she knew Mack - a big guy that worked part-time at Canelo's to Robbie's full-time. She also knew Fitz - who shared a couple of classes with Gabe and often partnered up with him for class projects - because Fitz was her best friend's boyfriend. The only new people he met were her adopted parents and that one had happened completely by accident. (Coulson had stopped into the shop to get a part for Lola. Daisy, and May with him. Daisy was meandering around, didn't see his legs sticking out from where he was arms deep in the guts of a Crysler and tripped over him. One loud crash, some cursing later, Robbie was properly introduced to Phil and Melinda instead of just being "dude whose car I puked on".)

He was still waiting for it to stop though, for that other shoe to drop. Because Robbie wasn't a go out and party kind of person; being in large crowded places made him uneasy and ever since the wreck Gabe and him were in, he had trouble being in a car that wasn't Lucy and if you added not being able to drive the non-Lucy car? It was almost a sure-fire way to give him an anxiety attack. So, yeah.

But a few months had passed since then, and the only real pressure he had gotten from any of his newfound friends was arguments on whether Lucy could beat Lola in a drag race - spoiler alert: she could, if Coulson ever said yes - and that worry started to fade, just a bit.

oxo

Robbie woke up to the three things; the smell of coffee (commonplace), faint Christmas music (not uncommon) and the occasional rustle of...something (suspicious). He glanced over at his alarm clock - 10:15 AM - before pushing himself out of bed, taking the biggest blanket with him to try to stave off the New York morning chill that had crept into the apartment. He had complained about it to his Tío once, during his first winter up here after moving so Gabe could attend his college of choice. Eli had only smirked and said being in LA for so long had made him soft. Which didn't make sense since it completely ignored the fact that Eli had lived in California far longer than his nephews had, so why wasn't he freezing his ass off? But Eli had just laughed at him instead of answering.

He shook himself out of the memory to take in the state of the living room. Multiple rolls of gift wrap were strewn across the carpet, a couple of pairs of scissors and at least three rolls of tape and sprawled in the middle of all was - surprise surprise - Daisy. She was clad in a heavy blanket, having similar feelings to the chilly weather as he did. Robbie dropped himself next to her, watching as she finished tapping together another present. She leaned back to put it on the growing pile behind her.

"I didn't wake you up, did I?"

"Nah, the coffee did." She glanced over at him like she didn't quite believe him before she set about carefully wrapping up a pair of frames that contained photos of her together with her folks. Robbie glanced around to locate and snag the closest roll of tape to help her finish wrapping it up.

They spent the rest of the morning like that, wrapping presents in silence. Until Robbie managed to cut himself with the scissors, and while he was waiting by the sink as Daisy dug around for their band-aid stash, and he suddenly he was taken back to their first Christmas together. Daisy was stringing up fairy lights on the tree she had gotten. Robbie was sitting on the couch digging through boxes stuffed full of tinsel, bulbs and the like.

"Moment of truth." Daisy had said, a huge smile on her face. He glanced up just as she plugged in the lights, the different colors lighting up her face. Robbie's heart skipped a beat, and he ended up jamming his thumb into the business end of a hook to the internal mantra of 'oh no no no' as Daisy dug around the bathroom for bandaids like she was doing now.

The memory pulled a lopsided lovestruck smile from him when he heard Daisy's "Aha!" from the bathroom, signaling the success of her mission. His smile faded, but the feeling stayed, just like it always did.

oxo

"Are we at the point in our friendship where I can drop by your place to watch movies?" Daisy asked when he picked up his cell phone. She sounded a bit out of breath.

"Sure, but why?"

"My boyfriend is lame and doesn't want to watch Christmas movies with me."

"Well, it is the middle of August."

"Details, details." He could practically see her wave him off, "I'll bring pizza?"

He swept a cursory glance around his apartment to gauge whether it was company-worthy or not. The only thing that stood out to him was the dishes he'd been putting off cleaning for the past two hours. "Deal."

She appeared at his door not even an hour later with two large pizza boxes and an even bigger smile. After some minor arguing, some shoving and possibly a few pepperoni slices were thrown, they'd made a nest compiled of Robbie's blankets and pillows on the floor in front of the TV. Once they called a truce to not throw any more food - which she started - they started the marathon with _A Year Without A Santa Claus_.

By the 5th movie, he had practically fallen asleep until Daisy shook him awake.

"Hey, I'm going to head out."

"What time is it?" He watched as she checked her cell phone, flinching slightly at the sudden bright light.

"Almost 1:30."

"I can drive you." He said as he sat up, running his fingers through his hair to try to wake himself up a bit more.

Daisy looked skeptical. "No way, Sleepyhead. You can barely keep your eyes open."

"Fair enough." Robbie yawned, further proving her point. He turned to look at her, then after a couple of heartbeats added, "I have a spare room if you want to stay here." He could feel Daisy's eyes stare at him and he resisted the urge to fidget. He opened his mouth to take it back worried it might be weird, before she reached out, touching his arm to interrupt him. Already knowing what he was going to do.

"I'd like that."

He nods and stands up, leading her to the extra room at the end of the hallway. It was the same bland off white as the rest of the apartment. The bed was against the wall nearest to the door, a desk on the far side that was semi-cluttered, a nightstand and a beat-up bookshelf where Robbie stuffed his books.

"It was Gabe's room before he started classes." He explained as Daisy looked around. Technically it was still his room since he usually came home during breaks and the like. Though not as much as he used to, so it was safe for her to crash in. He watched as she paused to snoop through his books - a mix of Syfy, supernatural, horror, but he could see a couple of his brothers' comic books from where he was leaning against the doorjamb.

He pushed off the frame just as she sat on the bed, taking in the room one last time before turning to look at him with a small smile. He made a vague hand gesture to his room, "I'm down the hall if you need me."

"Okay." a pause as she watched him turn to leave the room, "..Goodnight, Robbie."

"Night."

It was the beginning of a tradition, whenever both of them had free time Daisy would come over, her arms filled with junk food and they would watch movies together. Christmas themed obviously, but she occasionally brought over other types or browsed through his Netflix account. It was nice, even when they ended up sucked down the rabbit hole known as competitive cooking shows.

oxo

Robbie returned to the apartment earlier than anticipated. Eli had gotten a rare early day off of work, so he'd kidnapped his nephews and taken them out to eat at a restaurant near Momentum Labs that he loved. It was nice, catching up since they had so little opportunity to do so now or it was nice until Gabe decided to tease him about Daisy. So naturally, he brought up Janet's sister, which very nearly led to a food fight until Tío had threatened retribution if they got him kicked out his favorite restaurant.

Gabe still ended up throwing a tater tot at him though.

"Daisy?" He called out as he closed the door behind him. Robbie hung his keys on the hook by the door and headed down the hall. He didn't get a response, and it should have warned him for what he was about to see -

Their living room, but if Santa Claus had vandalized it.

Okay, so maybe that was a tiny bit dramatic. Saint Nick would never do this to him, but Daisy - who was sitting in the middle of a circle of boxes - would. After a few seconds, she noticed him standing there.

"Oh, you're home early." The Culprit said with a small smile, "I was hoping to finish decorating before you got home..." She trailed off, noticing the styrofoam box he was holding and perked up a bit. "What'cha got there?"

Robbie shook his head, taking a step away from her. "No way, vandals don't get mozzarella sticks."

"They don't?" She batted her eyelashes. Robbie narrowed his eyes and had enough time to hold the box protectively to his chest just before she lunged for it.

oxo

About a month or so had passed since Robbie and Daisy had started their movie nights. They had cycled through her collection of Christmas movies already, spent a few Friday's staying up till 2 am to finish the final season The Great British Bake Off and had watched The Conjuring out of morbid curiosity. Which they had both agreed was a terrible idea when neither of them could sleep that night.

Then as suddenly as they began, the movie nights ended and he didn't see her for a week. He wasn't worried, Daisy was a full-time college student. Then two weeks past, and just before the third week ended, he made a mental note to ask Mack in the morning if she was doing alright.

Robbie flipped his car keys, once, twice as he reached the door leading out of the apartment building. Presently though, Johnny had called to ask him to bartend for the next couple nights since Trip was on vacation. Robbie could always use the extra cash, and bartending at this bar had been his first job when he moved here until he could find a decent mechanic job. It was filled to the brim with memorabilia from Johnny's stunt days. Robbie had ended up working there for a year, and not once had the place been packed beyond maybe fifteen people. He had no idea how the place stayed open, defiantly a demon deal of some sort, but he enjoyed helping Trip fix whatever their boss managed to mangle and learning how to make their signature drinks...which also involved persuading curious patrons away from the "Ghost Rider".

"Oh gross." He groaned as he opened the door, the cold winter air whipping into his face and very nearly sucking all his will to take the short, snowy walk to his car. He stopped dead when he saw a familiar figure leaning against his car and his heart did something funny in his chest. "Daisy?"

"Hey, stranger." She gave a tiny smile as Robbie joined her by the fender.

"How long have you been out here?" She looked tired, and she had to be cold.

"Not long." She shrugged, looking him over. "Going somewhere?"

"Work."

Daisy tilted her head, "It's a little late to be going to Canelo's."

"It is. Temporary part-time job." He replied, digging around in his pocket for his apartment key, before offering it to her. She grabbed it with a raised eyebrow. "What? Do you really want to freeze your ass off while I go to work?"

"Depends on where you're working." She said, turning the key over in her hands before meeting his eyes.

"A bar." Daisy made an interested noise before she opened the passenger door and slid right in just like she belonged there.

oxo

Daisy was leaning against the wall, looking out the window into the snowy streets in front of the apartment building. She let her gaze drift back into the living room. She and Robbie had finished decorating it a few days ago after he lost The Battle of the Mozza Sticks. Which, he claimed he would've won if he didn't get a face full of the Poinsettia that had been sitting on the end table they'd bumped into during their wrestling match. Now all they were missing was a tree.

Speaking of the devil, he was laying on his stomach on the couch, nose in the book she had gifted him as an early Christmas present. She wandered over to the couch, running her hand over the arm as she rounded the front before plopping down onto his back. Robbie gave a quiet 'oomph' but otherwise didn't react. She scooted a bit before sprawling across his back so she could prop her chin on his shoulder.

"Robbie." She greeted.

"Daisy." He returned, turning another page. He could play stoic all he wanted, but she could see the smile he was fighting to hide. "What's up?" He asked, dogearing his book before setting it on the table.

She pushed herself back into a sitting position, tugging at the back of Robbie’s shirt before she stood up. “Its time.” She replied, solemnly.

“This late?” He yawned, flipping onto his back and stretching.

“Nighttime is the best time to get a Christmas tree.” She said matter of factly.

“So it is." He hmmed, "Alright, let me get my jacket and I'll meet you outside?"

Daisy watched him get up before heading over to the hook by the door to grab the keys. Her car keys, because it would be a cold day in hell before Robbie let a prickly pine tree near his baby. Daisy shrugged on her jacket as she headed outside, making her across the yard to her truck - a junker Mack had found for her after her van decided it could brave no more winters - and cranked the heat as soon as she got it started. Robbie was out a minute or so later, fidgeting with his gloves as he followed her path to the truck. He jumped in the driver's side with a shiver before pulling out into the street.

The lot they were going to was where Daisy had been getting Christmas Trees ever since she moved here. It was at Phil’s friend Garret's house, thirty some trees stationed in his front yard and wreaths set up in front of the garage to entice you to buy one on your way inside. Which never failed to work on Coulson. 

She wiggled in excitement as the lot came into view, coming very close to leaving the truck before Robbie had completely stopped it. He left it running, because it was fairly chilly outside, before following her toward the trees. She wandered for a bit, poking at the different trees that looked good before something caught her eye. However, it wasn’t a tree. At the end of the aisle, she was standing in was a long plastic table, it had an old radio holding a sign labeled “free mistletoe” in place. 

“Find anything yet?” Robbie’s voice sounded from behind her, and Daisy worried one of the plants between her fingers. Before she could think twice about it turned around and wiggled it above her head. Robbie squinted and drew closer for a better look, then started to blush. “Mistletoe?”

”Unless you don’t want-“

”Oh, I want, very very much.” He whispered, stepping closer into her personal space. Daisy’s heart sped up. She reached up and cupped the side of his face, rubbing her thumb gently against his cheek before closing the gap. His lips were chilly, but she’d wanted this too, and cold weather wasn’t going to stop her from finally getting to kiss him. 

She pulled away slightly, feeling pleasantly warm and then giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly. “All I want for Christmas is you, baby.” 

Robbie groaned loudly, “You’re the worst.” He grumped, wrapping his arms around her waist which just made her full on laugh because she wasn’t the one swaying them to the music.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You're in the hospital for the holidays, so I came in while you were sleeping to decorate your room. I love you, merry christmas."

Robbie shifted idly from foot to foot. Coulson was across from him as they waited for the elevator to reach the 5th floor. Robbie fiddled with a loose plastic piece on the bag he was carrying as he exited the elevator first when the doors whooshed open. He wasn't sure why he was so nervous. After all, this was his idea to do this in the first place.

See, Daisy had woken up in the middle of the night, with an intense pain in her side. After driving to the hospital at frankly unsafe winter weather speeds, and an anxious wait, the doctor had told him that her appendix had burst. She'd be fine, but she'd have to stay in the hospital while she healed from surgery. Which meant she'd be spending Christmas in a hospital bed. She put on a brave face, but it was obvious that hearing that news had bummed her out.

So Robbie came up with a plan - if Daisy couldn't be home for Christmas, he'd just bring Christmas to her. After getting the OK from the hospital, he went straight to Coulson and May with the idea. Since he'd need help decorating her room. Plus he had something he'd wanted to ask the two of them anyway, so it had been very 'kill two birds with one stone'. And together they planned it all out, Coulson gathering hospital-appropriate decorations while Robbie informed their friends of the mini party they were throwing.

Which led them to now. Robbie poked his head into Daisy's room - she was out cold. He turned to Coulson and gave him a nod, then the two quickly set to work decorating her room. Tiny fairy lights in many different colors, silver and gold garlands, and some random ornaments.

Robbie was in the process of setting out her presents when he heard her stir. He covered the space from the window to the bed in a big hurried step, putting a hand over her eyes before she could see anything.

"Robbie?" She questioned, he nervously stayed quiet. Daisy frowned severely as she tugged at his fingers, trying to remove them from her eyes. When that didn't work, she moved her hand on up his arm. Squeezing and tugging to try and get him to move. Eventually, she made her way to his face and, after a moment a deliberation, slammed her whole palm over his face. "Yup, Robbie. I don't think Santa would have a goatee." She dropped her hand. "Maybe in the summertime, though." That got a laugh out of her father and Daisy cocked her head. "Dad? What are you doing here?"

"What? I can't visit my daughter on Christmas Eve?" He said, finishing arranging the presents Robbie had left behind. Just in time too, because their friends and family (Mack, Fitz, Jemma, Trip, May, Yoyo) were starting to filter in. Armed with more presents.

"You can, but not at the same time as my boyfriend...that's suspicious." She said, crossing her arms. The two of them made amused eye contact before Robbie removed his hand.

"Surprise!" They called out, and Daisy brought her hands to her face, tears springing to her eyes as she took everything in. 

"I don't know what to say." She sniffled.

"You don’t have to say anything.” Trip said and handed Daisy a fancily wrapped gift. She wiped her eyes and gave him a one-armed thank you hug.

”Though you should probably thank your big sappy boyfriend.” Fitz chimed in from behind Mack and Jemma. “He’s the one who invited us all.” 

Robbie rubbed the back of his neck, flushing just a bit as Daisy reached out her arms and wrapped them around Robbie’s waist. “Thank you, big sappy boyfriend.”   
  
“Of course, bed-ridden girlfriend.” He whispered. Pressing a quick kiss to the top of her head.

Their impromptu party was pretty simple and didn’t last very long. Most staying until Daisy had opened the gifts they bought her, and update on how she was feeling before they had to leave. So soon enough - maybe a little bit too soon - it was just the two them left.

Daisy watched him as he picked up crumpled wrapping paper and stuffed into the rooms garbage can. “Are you going to go to Eli’s after this?” She asked.

”Yeah. I’ll tell ‘em you said hi.”   
  
He wandered over to her bedside as she tugged her sheets tighter around her. Carefully rolling onto her side, she stared at him. “You seem nervous.”   
  
Was he that obvious? “Cause I am.” He admitted. “Hospitals.” He shrugged. Robbie wasn’t afraid of them, the nearby hospital after the accident was the only reason he was alive and breathing right now. They just brought back a lot of unpleasant memories. The hospital made him uncomfortable, but it was the smooth box nestled next to his car keys that was making him nervous.  
  
“Is everything okay?” She asked. 

”Yeah, it's just-.” He took a deep breath as he pulled out the box, he heard Daisy's breath hitch. “Y’know, I um- I had like one of those cheesy movie speeches planned? But now that I’m here doing this...I don’t feel like they describe how exactly how much you mean to me.” He popped open the box. Showing Daisy the simple ring inside. “Daisy, will you marry me?”

She gave him a big teary smile - he wasn’t doing much better in the tears department - “Yes.” She nodded, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. “Yes, yes, yes!”

“Perfect.” He whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last fic of the decade! Whoo! And If you like you can find me as @acerobbiereyes over on tumblr. Also shoutout to Killjoys4life for catching my grammar mistakes and letting me know!


End file.
